Porous silicon & titanium dioxide coatings prepared by atmospheric pressure plasma jet chemical vapour deposition technique-a novel coating technology for photovoltaic modules

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJ) is an alternative for wet processes used to make anti reflection coatings and smooth substrate surface for the PV module. It is also an attractive technique because of it’s high growth rate, low power consumption, lower cost and absence of high cost vacuum systems. This work deals with the deposition of silicon oxide from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) thin films and titanium dioxide from tetraisopropyl ortho titanate using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) system in open air conditions. A sinusoidal high voltage with a frequency between 19-23 kHz at power up to 1000 W was applied between two tubular electrodes separated by a dielectric material. The jet, characterized by Tg ~ 600-800 K, was mostly laminar (Re ~ 1200) at the nozzle exit and became partially turbulent along the jet axis (Re ~ 3300). The spatially resolved emission spectra showed OH, N2, N2+ and CN molecular bands and O, H, N, Cu and Cr lines as well as the NO2 chemiluminescence continuum (450-800 nm). Thin films with good uniformity on the substrate were obtained at high deposition rate, between 800 -1000 nm.s-1, and AFM results revealed that coatings are relatively smooth (Ra ~ 2 nm). The FTIR and SEM analyses were better used to monitor the chemical composition and the morphology of the films in function of the different experimental conditions. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2790

Enhancement of NMP degradation under UV light by nitrogen-doped TiO2 thin films using a design of experiment

Doping nitrogen within TiO2 is an effective way to enhance visible light photocatalysis due to a direct electron excitation from the N2p states within the band gap. However, nitrogen doping is not always efficient for UV photocatalytic activity. Here, different structures of N-doped TiO2 (TiOxNy) have been prepared by reactive RF (13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering. The morphological, optical, structural, and photocatalytic properties of the films have been studied in order to investigate the competitive effect of the morphology and the chemical composition on the efficiency of the photocatalytic activity. The variation of surface wettability of the film over time in the dark and under visible and UV irradiation was also studied. The reduction in wettability by dark storage can be explained by the adsorption of hydrocarbon contamination on the thin film’s surface. Additionally, from water contact angle experiments, it was found that these films developed hydrophilic properties upon UV and visible illumination. The photoinduced change in the contact angle of water was due to the removal of hydrocarbon contamination on the surface and also the photo-oxidation of the water droplet. Samples prepared at high pressure gave the best photocatalytic activity, even though the deposition rate was lower at higher pressures (lower film thicknesses), due to the high specific surface area and the optimal presence of TiOxNy crystals in the lattice. However, at low pressure, the TiN crystals became more predominant, and acted as recombination centers for the photo-generated charge carriers. A design of experiments was used in order to optimize the deposition parameters to have the best photocatalytic activity. The high photocatalytic activity under UV light was found to be due to the introduction of discrete energy levels within the band gap, the increased sample wettability, and the higher specific surface area. However, the post annealing process did not effect the activity under UV irradiation. Using the response surface methodology, RSM, based on a design of experiment, DOE, we are able to achieve a good understanding of the complex processes involved in the deposition of the thin films and their effect on the photocatalytic activity. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/930

N2-H2 capacitively coupled radio-frequency discharges at low pressure. Part I. Experimental results: Effect of the H2 amount on electrons, positive ions and ammonia formation

The mixing of N2 with H2 leads to very different plasmas from pure N2 and H2 plasma discharges. Numerous issues are therefore raised involving the processes leading to ammonia (NH3) formation. The aim of this work is to better characterize capacitively-coupled radiofrequency plasma discharges in N2 with few percents of H2 (up to 5%), at low pressure (0.3-1 mbar) and low coupled power (3-13 W). Both experimental measurements and numerical simulations are performed. For clarity, we separated the results in two complementary parts. The actual one (first part), presents the details on the experimental measurements, while the second focuses on the simulation, a hybrid model combining a 2D fluid module and a 0D kinetic module. Electron density is measured by a resonant cavity method. It varies from 0.4 to 5 109 cm-3, corresponding to ionization degrees from 2 10-8 to 4 10-7. Ammonia density is quantified by combining IR absorption and mass spectrometry. It increases linearly with the amount of H2 (up to 3 1013 cm-3 at 5% H2). On the contrary, it is constant with pressure, which suggests the dominance of surface processes on the formation of ammonia. Positive ions are measured by mass spectrometry. Nitrogen-bearing ions are hydrogenated by the injection of H2, N2H+ being the major ion as soon as the amount of H2 is >1%. The increase of pressure leads to an increase of secondary ions formed by ion/radical-neutral collisions (ex: N2H+, NH4 +, H3 +), while an increase of the coupled power favours ions formed by direct ionization (ex: N2 +, NH3 +, H2 +).N. Carrasco acknowledges the financial support of the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant PRIMCHEM, Grant agreement no. 636829). A. Chatain acknowledges ENS Paris-Saclay Doctoral Program. A. Chatain is grateful to Gilles Cartry and Thomas Gautier for fruitful discussions on the MS calibration. L.L. Alves acknowledges the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project UID/FIS/50010/2019. L. Marques and M. J. Redondo acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UIDB/04650/2019

Effect of total gas pressure and O2/N2 flow rate on the nanostructure of N-doped TiO2 thin films deposited by reactive sputtering

N-doped TiO2 thin films have been deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering at different total gas pressures and varying O 2/N2 gas flow rates at 300 C. The thin film nanostructure has been studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Increasing the deposition pressure leads to reduced crystallinity of the thin films and a higher N2 flow rate was required to incorporate N into the growing film. This is attributed to the lower energy ion bombardment of the surface and N adatom chemical reactivity being reduced at higher total gas pressures. Ar+ ion sputtering of the deposited N-doped TiO2 thin films has enabled a detailed XPS investigation of the surface and bulk N species to be performed. Adsorbed N species have been identified on all the deposited thin film surfaces, with the most prevalent adsorbed N species occurring at a binding energy of approximately 400 eV, shown to originate from atmospheric contamination, most probably N containing organic species. The bulk N content varies between 0.6 and 6.0 at.% and N is located predominantly at substitutional sites in the TiO2. The presence of interstitial N, in the form of NO species, has been identified by XPS in some thin films deposited at higher deposition pressures. Hence, varying the total gas pressure may provide a route for tailoring the location of N in the bulk structure. At higher N contents (> 3 at.%), TiN is found as a secondary phase within the bulk structure and the presence of TiN leads to a sharp reduction in the band gap. Post-deposition annealing of low N containing films results in an N-doped TiO2 single phase anatase structure. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Effect of total gas pressure and O2/N2 flow rate on the nanostructure of N-doped TiO2 thin films deposited by reactive sputtering

N-doped TiO2 thin films have been deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering at different total gas pressures and varying O 2/N2 gas flow rates at 300 C. The thin film nanostructure has been studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Increasing the deposition pressure leads to reduced crystallinity of the thin films and a higher N2 flow rate was required to incorporate N into the growing film. This is attributed to the lower energy ion bombardment of the surface and N adatom chemical reactivity being reduced at higher total gas pressures. Ar+ ion sputtering of the deposited N-doped TiO2 thin films has enabled a detailed XPS investigation of the surface and bulk N species to be performed. Adsorbed N species have been identified on all the deposited thin film surfaces, with the most prevalent adsorbed N species occurring at a binding energy of approximately 400 eV, shown to originate from atmospheric contamination, most probably N containing organic species. The bulk N content varies between 0.6 and 6.0 at.% and N is located predominantly at substitutional sites in the TiO2. The presence of interstitial N, in the form of NO species, has been identified by XPS in some thin films deposited at higher deposition pressures. Hence, varying the total gas pressure may provide a route for tailoring the location of N in the bulk structure. At higher N contents (> 3 at.%), TiN is found as a secondary phase within the bulk structure and the presence of TiN leads to a sharp reduction in the band gap. Post-deposition annealing of low N containing films results in an N-doped TiO2 single phase anatase structure. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Improvement of the Bioactivity of UHMWPE by Two Different Atmospheric Plasma Treatments

"The final publication is available at link.springer.com"International audienceIn this research work we demonstrated that a helium/oxygen Dielectric Barrier Discharge conferred hydrophilic functional groups onto the surface, which lead to enhanced bioactivity of UHMWPE without affecting the biocompatibility of the polymer. The latter was checked by increased adhesion of fibroblast cells to the polymer. The effects of the He/2% O2 DBD plasma was compared for the first time to a rotating blown arc atmospheric pressure plasma jet (r-APPJ) in air. The results show a better functionalization as well as stability of the surface properties of the films treated with the DBD. The surface modified UHMWPE once immersed in a Simulated Body Fluid induced the formation of nucleus of hydroxyapatite (calcium phosphate) leading to the growth of a thick apatite coating which was followed up to 14 days, which can be expected to be highly bioactive. Surface characterization techniques also showed different chemical moieties in the case of the two different atmospheric discharges. DBD discharge in He/2% O2, leading to more stable polar functions grafted to a crosslinked polymer surface, proved to be more bioactive than UHMWPE treated by a r-APPJ in air. The latter treatment lead to grafting of less oxygen containing groups to the surface as well as to LMWOM created on r-APPJ treated UHMWPE which are unstable in aqueous media used both in SBF and fibroblasts in DMEM